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OxyContin crisis grows

By some estimates, OxyContin is now the second most abused drug in the city, yet there remains a gap in services for those trying to escape addiction.

Health professionals, police officers and politicians agree that a residential treatment centre would be a welcome addition to Cornwall's resources, yet none have taken up the cause like Kim Lalonde.

Lalonde, a health-care worker, was driven by personal experience to initiate a support group for parents of young addicts, but soon realized it was simply not enough.

"We were hanging out on our own," said Lalonde, adding that she had few answers when people asked for help. "There is no youth facility, that is the bottom line."

She said the emergence of prescription painkiller OxyContin is what prompted her to begin lobbying in earnest for a youth residential treatment centre, but she was discouraged by the brush-offs from politicians and the community's hesitation to get involved.

"I think they think it will all go away," she said. "They're in denial."

OxyContin is generally prescribed to give long-term pain relief, but is now being sold for as much as $80 a pill, then injected or snorted to give highs that last up to four hours. And getting many extremely addicted.

Withdrawal from the drug is also extreme: flu-like symptoms, insomnia, sweating, muscle and joint pains. Lalonde knows teenagers can't go through that alone.

Marc Giguere, supervisor of the Cornwall hospital's detox centre, said the process is so difficult it often drives people back to the drug.

"Then they're not using to get high, they're just using to not get sick," he said.

Giguere said in the last three years, OxyContin has overtaken cocaine and other opiates to become the second most used substance in Cornwall, based on the clients that check into the withdrawal management centre. Alcohol remains number one.

Giguere said probably more than half of OxyContin addicts that use the facility to dry out need emergency medical care to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. Another rising statistic is the number of calls the detox centre is receiving from young teens needing assistance.

The cutoff age to acquire a spot in the centre is 16, so Giguere said he can only refer those under the age of 16 to addictions services or the hospital.

If addictions services does recommend residential treatment, waiting lists can be from two weeks to six months long.

"If we can get them out of here and into treatment, it would be a dream come true for us," said Giguere.

"If there was an agency that had a mandate for helping youth under 16 that would definitely help our area," said Robyn Wharf, one of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit's representatives on the OxyContin task force, which is charged with increasing community awareness about the drug, researching treatment solutions and encouraging doctors to better monitor prescriptions.

She said there is not much data on adult drug use, but she has seen and heard enough to believe the greatest need is for youth.

"I'd say we're either average or above average in terms of usage," she said.

Cornwall police have attributed nine deaths in the last couple of years directly to Oxy- Contin. Across the province, there were 122 deaths from abuse of the drug in 2008, nearly double the number in 2004.

It's an explosion that tugged the Conservative party's attention. Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry MP Guy Lauzon said OxyContin was a topic of discussion in caucus meetings, but he doesn't think a residential treatment centre is the only answer.

"Education is the solution," he said. "We need to educate the public, and especially young people in the community, of the dangers of OxyContin."

Wharf said a conference in September will bring together the region's physicians and pharmacists to provide awareness and guidelines when dealing with OxyContin and similar drugs.

"We hope that will definitely help with this as well," she said. "They're at the start of this, essentially."

Last week, Queen's Park announced plans to create a database that will track prescription narcotics, raising red flags when there is unusual activity so appropriate steps can be taken to deal with the user.

FUNDING

"Something has to be done," said Cornwall police Const. Brenda MacIntosh, who is also on the OxyContin task force. "We do think it's a good idea, but it all boils down to funding."

Lauzon said some federal funding could be pulled from crime prevention for a treatment centre, but it's pretty unlikely the government would get involved since it's the province's job to dole out cash for health initiatives.

Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry MPP Jim Brownell said he has brought the Oxy- Contin problem to the health minister, but cautioned there is not enough funding to put a facility in every area that wants one -though a greater outcry from the community could push Cornwall higher on the priority list.

Mayor Bob Kilger said the close proximity of centres in Ottawa are both a blessing and a curse for the region's addicts.

"We're fortunate to some extent that there are some facilities that are close by," he said, but the nearness could make a request from Cornwall seem redundant.

"We have to wait and see how we prioritize what we'd like to have in the health-care file," said Kilger.

Currently, more than $16 million is divided up between the area's addictions services, less than one per cent of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network's 2009-2010 budget.

But the only beds reserved for drug treatment are in the hospital's detox centre, with funding of $700,000 a year from the LHIN and 16 beds for anyone over the age of 16.

"I believe there is a need for a treatment centre," said Giguere, adding that he believes the demand is not just from youth.

"I think it should be for everyone," he said. "There should be separate youth and adult components."

Giguere said OxyContin "doesn't discriminate", snaring people of all ages and backgrounds.

But from Lalonde's perspective, the drug has captivated a whole new demographic than the old stereotype of split parents, low income, poor grades.

"Now it's the opposite," she said.

Honour roll students from higher-income families and positive environments are being dragged down by the unforgiving drug. Lalonde said the change is probably due to the high price of a single pill, plus the misconception that "prescription drug" equals less risk.

"The majority of them had a life," she said. "Will they ever get it back? I don't know. That desire will chase them for the rest of their life."

According to the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, more than 40% of students from grades 7 to 12 admitted to using drugs, including prescriptions. OxyContin was most popular in Grade 11, with 3% of survey participants claiming to have taken it.

That percentage translates to an estimated 16,700 students across Ontario who used Oxy Contin last year.

Statistics for Cornwall's population are not available, but Lalonde's estimates are high.

"Well over half of the kids are using," she said. "You have to be blind not to see it; it's like a drug flea market."

Lalonde said with OxyContin's permeation into youth culture in Cornwall, she knew her monthly parent support group meetings would not do the trick.

Yet she also realized those parents are completely engrossed in their personal battles with OxyContin and don't have energy to spare.

Instead, Lalonde hopes the community as a whole -not just those with personal experiences as motivation, like herself -will appeal to higher powers for help.

Despite discouragement from the "wait and see" attitude Lalonde has encountered so far, she is far from ready to give up.

"The problem isn't going to go away," said Lalonde. "I just want someone to do something."